Synopsis
If you don’t tell your story, they will.
Iceland, 1920. Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith, dwells with his animals, darkness, and moonshine. The last thing he wants is an injured lodger, but his money may change Gunnar’s life. So might the stranger’s story – by ending it. That is, unless an unwanted marriage, God’s messengers’ sudden interest, an obnoxious elf, or his doctor’s guilt change the narrative. Or will the demons from Gunnar’s past cut all the stories short?
Side effects of too much truth include death, but one man’s true story is his brother’s web of lies. With so many eager to write his final chapter, can Gunnar find his own happy ending?
Review
Storytellers is the second book written by Bjørn Larssen that I’ve read this year. Larssen is such a versatile writer, so it’s no surprise that Storytellers is unlike anything else of his that I’ve read. This novel, his debut from 2019, is historical fiction, set in Iceland in 1920. On this occasion I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Graham Halstead.
Since I regularly review books I normally take copious notes. However, I didn’t do that for Storytellers. This wasn’t due to it being an audiobook (although taking notes whilst driving is not recommended). I think it was more a reflection of the story itself, which has an otherworldly and mesmerising quality, and I found this tale to be utterly absorbing right from the start. This novel was just so readable/listenable, and it was simply too easy to get lost in the story for chapter after chapter. This is a Larssen novel, so naturally you can expect passages of razor-sharp wit and dry humour to sit alongside plenty of darker moments. However, I’d also say this is one of his most accessible books and a great place to start if you haven’t tried his work before.
In Storytellers we have not one but two tales. In 1920 Gunnar, a blacksmith living alone in a remote (as in remote even by Icelandic standards) house, receives a visit by a mysterious injured stranger called Sigurd. Sigurd offers Gunnar money to let him recuperate at his house in secret, and in return for his help Sigurd also keeps Gunnar entertained with a story. Told over several days, Sigurd’s tale takes place at an earlier period in the late 1800s and concerns the events which follow after two young lovers elope to Iceland from the USA. I loved this story within a story and the resulting dual timeline structure this created, which left me guessing as to whether or not the events in the past, assuming they were real, connected to events in 1920.
The residents of the village near (a relative term) Gunnar’s home and the various characters in Sigurd’s story in the past are all expertly drawn. As each tale unfolds it soon becomes clear everyone, both in the past and the present, is keeping secrets and most have their own agenda, some more obvious than others. I think this is what sets this book apart – there’s such a lot of depth to the storytelling (pardon the pun) and character work here, yet Larssen does it so effortlessly.
The narrator, Graham Halstead also gives a great performance and he clearly took his time over this project. Whilst I don’t speak Icelandic, his pronunciation certainly sounded convincing and was always consistent. He handles the large cast well and helps convey a real sense of place with this story. In another narrator’s hands this might not have worked so well for me, so he deserves a huge amount of credit.
This was one of the few books in recent months that absolutely hit the spot for me and is right up there as one of my favourite novels. The ending was so well done, although I don’t want to go into details and risk spoiling this one. Instead, I’d strongly urge you to pick up Storytellers and discover the truth of things for yourself. Just remember, “Too much truth in a story may be dangerous for the listener.”
You have been warned…
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